Travel Companion 2007, December 27

I am going to Dublin today. And I am taking with me a brand new, dizzying, head about to explode COLD. Perfect timing, huh? It’s not so bad. It only hurts when I move.

i might just copy this and blog post it 2007, December 25

actual email sent by me today

just replied via other email. xmas ok. any disappointment i may have blogged about is very specific and very familiar and almost an aside.
i saw Sweeney Todd and loved it. love the look of the whole thing. HATE the people in miami who should just stay home and never go to a movie even remotely above their IQ capabilities.
one woman was sitting there with a stroller in which was a noisy baby (sure, an evening xmas showing of blood and cannibalism is perfect for everyone! not that the baby would get any of that but seriously lady, when johnny depp sings about revenge i don’t need to hear your infant making baby noises. i’m sure he/she is a lovely baby. who should be home.)
and to the 2 fellas to my right, the appropriate comment to scenes in which you root for depp’s character to win over his enemies is not “yeah, get that asshole” or “get that fat asshole” when the enemy is particularly corpulent. especially when you say this without a trace of irony and in an incredibly even-more-irritating-than-usual version of the ‘miami’ bro accent. i am not surprised that you left before the film was over. relieved, thankful, but not surprised.
to the man behind me who at the end said “is that it?” yes sir, that’s what it means when the credits start to roll. also, since this film is based on a famous sondheim musical, it likely is also around the time that the curtain would come down and the actors would stop their acting. if you do not understand that the story is over, then please find more suitable movies for yourself, like maybe the helpful ones where they write ‘the end’ at, well, the end.
and to the people outside walking by the poster who kept saying ‘i wanna see that johnny depp movie’. sigh. ok, i do, too. he is why i am here, though i actually am interested in the story and art direction. however, the movie you ‘want’ to see soooo much is NOT called “Beware.” that is just a word on the movie poster. i think it might mean that you should ‘beware’ of Sweeney Todd (actual film name) since he is the Demon Barber of Fleet Street (subtitle). if you look at the movie times, you will be confused since there is no listing for “Beware.” i wonder how many of you had to just say ‘the johnny depp movie.’ my hope is that at least that helped the movie’s box office, after so many of you stumbled there accidentally. (it might look good on the outside people, but don’t bite into it if you do not know what it is).

NONE of the above is exaggerated. i swear. for humanity’s sake, i wish it was. but i have not exaggerated a single thing. i might just copy this and blog post it because, i swear, this is a true story (and then people are surprised when i say i hate miami. should i also mention that when i saw Juno there were cell phone rings? because apparently the 257 pre-movie screen skits/requests/suggestions about turn off your damn cell phone did NOT apply to that one person whose phone went off and then 15 minutes later went off again. wtf? seriously. w.t.f.)

if you read my other email,  i will have already assured you that i am not drunk. i’m never right in the head on xmas, though. now excuse me, i have to ‘get that asshole’ while i watch ‘beware’ while listening to a soundtrack of baby noises. after that i have to ‘get that fat asshole’ so obviously i better get going.
g

ps. the news is on and the newscaster just said that a family had a “christmess” because sewage flooded their apt. (oh if only i could write such witty copy.) and yes, we were warned that the pictures would be disturbing. oh look, poop. oh no. no. the reporter just called it a “fecal flood.” that did it. now i am grossed out.

Holiday Whatever 2007, December 25

In strict observance of my holiday tradition, I have managed to, once again, right on schedule, be disappointed. Before noon, even! I am good! I know it’s my fault. Difficult to please, always wanting more, nothing’s good enough, etc., blahblahblah,  and whatever. Thing is, every year I wake up on xmas and fight like hell to not be the little kid who runs out to see what Santa brought. And then I run out to see what Santa brought. Which, of course, is, um, not really, um, possible. So… Somehow… It still has to be possible for this day to turn around sometime in the next few years, and be a good one again, not the dreaded day it has continuously become. Right? Because that’s what I want most for christmas. To actually have one.

I Love the Beckhams 2007, December 23

Seriously. I am a tad obsessed with the Beckhams. I think Posh has a wicked sense of humor. And, well, David Beckham is simply the most beautiful man on the planet. (seen the Armani underwear ad? my god. and read victoria’s response to it re: db’s manhood? my god. seriously. my god. ok, i had to find the picture. below. My. God.)

This might be my favorite quote of the year. Victoria Beckham:

“Well, I sleep naked when I go to bed every night,” she explained. “I’m getting in bed with David Beckham so it’s not hard getting in bed naked every night. That’s just the way I am. I do wear pajamas sometimes. Though I do generally sleep naked.” [Does David sleep in the nude?] “Yes, he does. We both sleep naked in bed,” she said. “A lot of women would understand that if they were getting in bed with David Beckham. They wouldn’t complain.”

Atonement 2007, December 23

I tried to read the book years ago, but I couldn’t get past the very beginning. Which is actually the ‘big event’ that the whole story is about. It really got to me, under my skin somehow, and I not only didn’t go further in the book but I actually went to the bookstore and returned it.

Today I saw the movie. Which is, of course, incredible. And maybe some people just see it as a regular dramatic film, but once again, it got to me. Maybe something about how unfair things were, such a horrible thing that I couldn’t get past it. It broke my heart a bit that I love the actors in the movie, Kiera Knightley and, most of all, I totally adore James McAvoy. But that made me feel it more, I guess.

I always say that what I care about in a good book, good film is that I care about the characters. I don’t know what it is about this story, but i can only get involved at a certain level, because to get more involved is, for whatever reason, too much. Caring is important (and yes, I realize these are fictional characters) but sometimes I really lose myself in the worlds of literature and film and end up caring too much.